DRINKING WATER
PROGRAM
l-ebruary 12, 2018
United States Environmental Protection Agency—Region 8
1595 Wynkoop Street
Denver, CO. 80202-1129
Phone: 1-800-227-8917
Fax: 1-877-876-9101
Web: https://www.epa.gov/region8-waterops
msmcom wateh'pwg'WM
IN THIS ISSUE
STAFFING CHANGES
DRINKING WATER WATCH CHANGES
HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR WATER
SYSTEM'S ON-SITE SANITARY SURVEY
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE PREPARED
FOR A WATER EMERGENCY DISASTER?
HOW TO SUBMIT SAMPLE RESULTS AND
OTHER COMPLIANCE DOCUMENTATION TO
EPA
REGION 8
TOTAL COLIFORM START-UP CHECKLIST
LEAD AND COPPER (LCR) TAP SAMPLE SITE
PLANS
REPORTING CHLORINE RESIDUALS
SYNTHETIC ORGANIC CHEMICAL
MONITORING REMINDER
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEST SAMPLE
COLLECTION PRACTICES FOR CHEMICAL
SAMPLING
WHAT'S IN A SAMPLE BOTTLE NAME?



-------
Many Community and Non-
Transient systems should have
updated monitoring plansfor:
•	Disinfection Byproduct Rule
monitoring locations and
•	Lead and Copper Rule sampling
sites.
Priorto the survey, visit all of the
locations the surveyor will visit and
make sure you have access to all of
the facilities:
•	Obtain land owners'permission
for you and the surveyor when
traveling on or across private
property.
•	Make sure there are no
rodents encamped on or around
well heads, pumps, sample taps,
etc.
• Make sure backflow prevention
devices have been tested within
the last year.
If you have any questions, need a
survey report or report form, contact
Jim Gindelberger, 303-312-6984,
qindelberqer.jim(a)epa.qov.
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE PREPARED FOR A WATER EMERGENCY DISASTER
Knowing that no one ever wants
to have an emergency disaster affect
a water system, all public water
systems should prepare as much as
possible BEFORE a disaster strikes.
With extreme and unpredictable
weather affecting all parts of
Wyoming, the first step is to dust off
and update your emergency
response plan. With the turnover of
personnel at some water systems, it
is highly recommended that you
review the plan at least once a year.
An updated plan will reduce the work
and stress that occurs when an
emergency occurs. Please take a
look at the Region 8 Water
Operations webpage for guides and
templates, and use or modify the
template that will work best, for your
system. See the templates at:
https://www.epa.gov/reqion8-
waterops/reportinq-forms-ancl-
instructions-reportinq-forms#erp
The Region 8 Drinking Water
Program offers occasional water
emergency preparedness
workshops. With local, state and
federal stakeholders at these
workshops, this is a great way for all
types of water systems to become
familiar with the process of
responding to an emergency
incident and establishing critical
partnerships before a situation
occurs. As part of the workshop, the
participants are presented with a
scenario and all stakeholders then
walk through the process of
responding to each stage of the
disaster. Past workshops show that
it's enlightening to consider all the
duties needed to respond to an
emergency, and it's fun to work
through the incident with other
water system personnel and
agencies outside of the emergency
situation.
Remember, if you have an
incident that disrupts your water
supply or poses potential
contamination you must call one of
the EPA staff as soon as possible. If
there is a drinking water emergency
and the EPA office is closed, please
call 303-293-1788 for assistance, and
let the operator know that you
represent a public water system that
is regulated by EPA Region 8. As the
primacy agency, the EPA may be
able to assist you with additional
resources.
4
The national EPA Drinking Water
and Wastewater Resilience website
includes more hands-on information
on how a water system can assess its
facilities, and plan and train for
specific disaster situations. The free
Water Utility Response On-the-Go
app is an excellent tool that can be
downloaded on your computer,
phone or tablet. The app will allow
water system personnel to:
•	Identify and contact
emergency response
partners
•	Monitor local and national
severe weather
•	Review and complete
incident-specific checklists
•	Fill in, save and email
damage assessment forms
with photo attachments
•	Access Incident
Command System
procedures and resources
Instructions on how to use
the Water Utility Response On-the-
Go app can be found on this website.
https://www.epa.gov/waterutilitvres
ponse/water-utility-response-qo-
mobile-application-and-website.
Please consider all these options
as resources and guides to be the
best prepared water system
possible. A plan of action and


-------
R8DWU Documentation Submittal Keyword List
Type of Documentation
Required Keywords
Example E-mail Subject
Consumer Confidence Report (CCR)
"CCR" or "Water Quality Report"
084690000 CCR
Disinfection Byproduct (DBP) Results (TTHM or
HAA5)
"DBP" or "TTHM" or "HAA5"
084690000 DBP
DBP Precursor Results (Total Organic Carbon
and/or alkalinity and/or UV absorbance)
"TOC" or"TOCA" or "Precursor" or
"SUVA"
084690000 TOC
DBP Operation Evaluation Level (OEL) Report
"OEL"
084690000 OEL
Inorganic Compounds (IOC), including asbestos
and/or
Synthetic Organic Compounds (SOC) and/or
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
Results
"IOC" or "SOC" or "VOC"
084690000 IOC or
084690000 IOC, SOC, VOC
Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Results (including
Water Quality Parameters results)
"LCR" or "Lead" or "Copper" or "Pb/Cu"
084690000 LCR
LCR Sample Plan
"LCR Sample Plan" or "LCR Plan"
084690000 LCR Sample Plan
LT2 Source Water Monitoring Results (E. Coli or
Cryptosporidium)
"LT2" or "Crypto"
084690000 LT2
Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Report
(MRDL)
"MRDL"
084690000 MRDL
Nitrate or Nitrite Results
"Nitrate" or "Nitrite" or "N03" or "N02" or
"N+N" or "N-N"
084690000 NO3
Radionuclides Results
"RADS" or "Radionuclide"
084690000 RADS
Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) Results-Tribal
System
"Tribal BACT" or "Tribal BAC-T" or "BACT
08" or "Tribal RTCR" or "RTCR 08"
084690000 Tribal BACT
RTCR Level 1 or Level 2 Assessment
"Level 1 Assessment" or "Level 2
Assessment" or "RTCR Assessment"
084690000 Level 1 Assessment
RTCR Seasonal Start-up Checklist
"Seasonal" or "Start-up"
084690000 Seasonal Start-up
Significant Deficiency Correction Notice
"Significant" or "Deficiency" or
"Deficiencies"
084690000 Significant Deficiency
Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) Monthly
Operating Report
"SWTR" or "LTi"
084690000 SWTR
System Changes (Contacts changes, change form,
or basic information form) - Tribal
"Tribal Change" or "Tribal Inv Change"
084690000 Tribal Inv Change
Example subject for an e-mail that contains nitrates, IOC, SOC, VOC and Rads results: "084690000 NO3, IOC, SOC, VOC, Rads"
6




-------
REPORTING CHLORINE RESIDUALS
To report a chlorine residual or
not to report a chlorine residual?
That is the question that we will
clarify here, as well as other issues
related to chlorine residual reporting
to EPA Region 8. If you operate a
community water system (CW5) or a
non-transient non-community water
system (NTNCWS), you should read
the rest of this article. If you manage
a transient non-community water
system (TNCWS), then please move
on and enjoy the other articles in this
newsletter.
Underthe Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) §141.132 (c)(i)(i),
all CWSsand NTNCWSs across the
country that add chlorine to the
water supply are required to
measure the amount of chlorine
residual at the same time and
location as the total coliform
samples collected for compliance.
This includes all routine and repeat
total coliform samples.
Special total coliform samples
are not required to have a measured
chlorine residual. We recommend
measuring chlorine residualsfor
special samples, so the operator can
have a full understanding of the
disinfectant levels when you receive
your lab results a couple of days after
the sampling event. However, you
are not required to report this
chlorine residual to EPA.
At the beginning of 2017, EPA
required Wyoming and Tribal public
water systems to submit a maximum
residual disinfectant level (MRDL)
Form 2 to EPA Region 8 each
quarter. EPA is now calculating the
MRDL values for public water
systems, and thus the MRDL Form 2
is no longer required. However, in
orderfor usto calculate these values
for you, you must submit your
chlorine residuals with your total
coliform samples.
After measuring the chlorine
residual, we recommend that you
write "CI2 residual" and the
measured value on the lab's chain of
custody form for your total coliform
sample. When writing the actual
number, ensure that it can be read,
including the location of the decimal
point. To ensure this, we
recommend using a zero followed by
a period if the value is less than 1.0
(for example, CI2 residual 0.2).
If your laboratory sends the total
coliform results to EPA directly,
please have a short tailgate
discussion with the labto ensure that
they will include the chlorine
residuals with the total coliform
results that they report to EPA. It is
the public water system's
responsibility to ensure these
chlorine residuals are passed along
to EPA; therefore, this short
conversation may avoid extra work
down the road.
In 2018, EPA will be reviewing
monthly all of the routine and repeat
total coliform samples submitted for
compliance to see if chlorine results
are being reported. In order to avoid
unnecessary backtracking and
possible violations, please ensure
that your measured chlorine
residuals are being passed along to
EPA in a proper manner.
For more information, please
contact Seth Tourney at
tourney.seth(a)epa.qov or 303-312-
6579-
10




-------
on Drinking Water Watch
https://5dwi5r8.epa.aov/Regi
on8DWWPUB/index.isp).
Simply type in your PWSID
to search for your system.
Click on your PWSID to bring
up your water system profile.
On the left hand side of the
profile you will see an option
to view the contaminants
that were analyzed.

Contaminant
Analyzed
Physical Sample
Location
Sample Site
Name
Nitrate-
Nitrite Rule
Nitrate,
Nitrite, or
Nitrate-Nitrite
Entry point to the
distribution
system, after
treatment*
Example: SP01,
SP04
Revised
Total
Coliform
Rule
Total Coliform
and E. coli
Within the
distribution
system*
Example: DIST-
Men's restroom,
or DIST-123 Main
Street
Ground
Water Rule
E. coli
Directly from the
well or spring,
before treatment*
Example: TG
GWR - source
* If the sample location is the same for all 3 regulations please collect
your samples and label each bottle according to the naming convention
above.
14

-------